Biography of Robert de Baldock -1327

Chronicle of Geoffrey the Baker of Swynebroke. In the year 1322, upon the death of Philip [3rd January 1322], son of Philip, King of the French, his brother Charles, having attained the crown of the fraternal kingdom, sent to England Lord Andrew of Florence¹ and another knight to summon the King [of England] to present himself before the new King of the French and to do homage for the Duchy of Aquitaine and his other lands held within the kingdom of the said French king. And although Hugh Despenser and Robert de Baldock², by their influence and persuasion, had sufficiently instructed the minds of the aforementioned envoys, as they thought, that they should not notify the King of the true cause of their coming, nevertheless, upon their departure, they advised him, as if in counsel, that he should present himself to the new king to do homage. Upon this warning or summons, the said Lord Andrew of Florence, who was notary to Charles, secretly and without the knowledge of the council of the King of England, made a public instrument. By virtue of this document, the King of France, proceeding legally against the King [of England], had several lands from the Duchy of Gascony and the County of Ponthieu seized for his own use, the King of England believing—as he had been informed—that the said summons was not legally valid. This seizure on behalf of the reigning Charles was carried out by his uncle, Charles of Valois, a man who held a deep hatred for the English. With a great army, under the pretense of an assigned legation and claiming disobedience and failure of homage by the King of England as Duke of Aquitaine, he seized the County of Ponthieu and all of Agenais for the benefit of his nephew, the French king. Finally, advancing to the town of Réole, he found it defended by Edmund of Woodstock, the King of England's brother and Earl of Kent. A truce was eventually agreed upon between them³, to last for as long as peace negotiations could be conducted between the kings. The town was surrendered, and both parties returned to their own territories.

Anno MCCCXXIJ, Philippo filio Philippi, rege Francorum, universe carnis viam ingresso, germanus suus Karolus, regni fraterni adeptus I diadema, misit in Angliam dominum Andream de Florencia et alium quemdam militem ad citandum regem ut se presentaret novo regi Gallorum et faceret homagium pro ducatu Aquitannie et aliis suis terris in predicti regis regno, et, licet Hugo de Spenser et Robertus de Baldok precibus et meritis predictorum nunciorum mentes informassent suffi cienter, ut ipsi putabant, quod causam sui adventus non notificarent regi, tamen in suo recessu monuerunt ipsum, quasi consulendo, quod homagium facturus tunc regi se presentaret. Super qua monicione seu citacione dictus dominus Andreas de Florencia, qui Karolo fuit notarius, concilio regis Anglorum hoc ignorante, fecit pupplicum instrumentum, cuius virtute rex Francie, contra regem facto processu, terras nonnullas de ducatu Vasconie et comitatum Pontivie in suas utilitates fecerat seysiri, rege Anglie putante, sicut fuit informatus, predictam citacionem non valuisse de iure. Prefatam seisinam ex parte Karoli regnantis cepit eius patruus Karolus de Valoys, vir habens Anglicos maxime odiosos, qui cum magno exercitu, fungens affectata legacione, pretensis regis Anglie, ut ducis Aquitannie, inobediencia et homagio non facto, comitatum Pontivie et totam Agennam in utile dominium regis nepotis sui seisivit. Tandem progrediens ad villam de Regula, invenit eam defensam per Edmundum de Wodestoke, germanum regis Anglie et comitem Cancie; inter quos finaliter initis treugis, duraturis per tempus quo posset de pace inter reges tractari, reddita quoque villa, utraque pars ad propria remeavit.

Note 1. Andrieu de Florence, dean of Furnes. Murimuth, 39: "around the feast of St. Peter in Chains [1st August 1322], the envoys of Charles, King of France, namely Lord Beuville and Lord Andrew of Florence, came to the King of England at Pickering to summon and warn him to come within a set time to do his homage to Charles, the new King of France, for the Duchy of Aquitaine."

Note 2. Robert Baldock became archdeacon of Middlesex in 1314, keeper of the privy seal in 1320, and chancellor 20th August 1323. He died 28th May 1327.

Note 3. 22nd of September 1324.

Adam Murimuth Continuation. 1st August 1323. In this year, around the feast of St. Peter in Chains (August 1st), the envoys of Charles, King of France, namely Lord Beuville and Lord Andrew of Florence, came to the King of England at Pickering to summon and warn him to come within a set time to do his homage to Charles, the new King of France, for the Duchy of Aquitaine. And although Hugh Despenser the Younger and Robert de Baldock had persuaded the envoys not to disclose to the King the true reason for their coming, nonetheless, upon their departure, they warned him—seemingly as advice—that he should go, as it had been enjoined upon them to both summon and warn him. Upon this warning or summons, the said Lord Andrew of Florence, who was a notary, made a public instrument. By virtue of this document, the King of France initiated legal proceedings against the King of England and caused many lands in Gascony to be seized, as will appear below, all as a penalty for the contumacy (willful disobedience) of the King of England, who had been misled by evil counselors into believing that the aforementioned summons or warning did not legally bind him.

1st August 1323. Hoc anno, circa gulam Augusti, venerunt ad regem Angliæ, apud Pykeringe, nuncii regis Franciæ Karoli, videlicet dominus Beoville et dominus Andreas de Florencia, ad citandum et monendum eum quod veniret infra certum tempus ad faciendum homagium suum ipsi Karolo, novo regi Franciæ, pro ducatu Aquitaniæ; et licet Hugo Dispensator filius et Robertus de Baldock procurassent ipsos nuncios quod ipei non notificarent regi illam causam sui adventus, ipsi tamen in recessu suo monuerunt eum, quasi consulendo, quod ipse veniret, sicut fuit eis injunctum quod facerent et monerent. Super qua monitione give citatione dictus dominus Andreas de Florencia, qui fuit notarius, fecit publicum instrumentum, virtute cujus rex Franciæ fecit processum contra regem Angliæ et terras multas Vasconiæ seysiri, sicut inferius apparebit, et totum in pœnam contumaciæ regis Angliæ, qui fuit informatus per malos consiliarios quod ipsum præfata citatio seu monitio non artabat.

Chronicle of Geoffrey the Baker of Swynebroke. [September 1324] Those of Hereford he hated, having been deprived of his temporal possessions; those of Lincoln, Henry de Burghesh¹, although honoured with a bishop's mitre through royal promotion, nevertheless, due to the same guilt as the aforementioned Adam, knowing himself to be guilty, greatly feared and consequently hated them as well. On the other hand, all the knights and bishops who were friends of these men were burdened with sick hearts and prone to rage, held back only by reverence for the king's peace. To make matters worse, they provoked against themselves the furious wrath of the queen², a most violent and womanly wrath, because, due to the greedy counsel and arrangement of those men, the royal consort's household had been diminished, and fixed incomes had been assigned to her with strict limitation, forcing her to live on a more meager allowance than she was accustomed to. Thus, the insatiable feminine greed, frustrated in its desires—or perhaps the extravagant nature of womanhood, which that sex is ever wont to indulge—being denied its usual outlet, flared up not only against the Dispensers, but even against her husband, whom she accused of following their counsel more than hers.

Illos Herefordensis suis temporalibus privatus odiebat; illos Lincolniensis Henricus de Borewasch¹, quamquam regis promocione decoratus infula, tamen consimili culpa qua supradictus Adam sciens se noxium, valde metuebat et per consequens odiebat. Contra universi militum et episcoporum istorum amici habuerunt animos egro dolore sarcinatos et in furiam proclivos, et sola reverencia regie pacis manus continentes. Ad hoc contra seipsos in universum nefas rapidissimam iram femineam regine concitabant, eo quod, illorum avaro consilio et ordinacione familia consortis regie minorata, sibi certi reditus cum precisione fuerant taxati, parciori annona quam solebat victure. Unde avaricia insaciabilis feminina concupitis frustrata, aut certe prodigalitas muliebris artata, quarum alteri solet semper ille sexus indulgere, non solum contra Dispensatores, set et contra maritum, plus illos quam illam consiliis imitatum, exarsit in iras.

Note 1. Henry Burghersh (age 32), nephew of Bartholomew de Badlesmere, had been forced by Edward into the see of Lincoln when only in his twenty-ninth year and thus under the canonical age. The papal bull of appointment is dated 27th May 1320 (Fœdera, ii. 425). Previously the king had asked the pope to promote him to Winchester, 2nd November, 1319 (Fœdera, ii. 425). In spite of these favours he had joined in the rebellion of 1322. See Stubbs, Const. Hist., ii. 386. He was treasurer in 1327, and chancellor in 1328-1330. He died at Ghent in 1340.

Note 2. On the 18th of September 1324 the king took into his own hands the queen's estates, on the threat of a French invasion. Fœdera, ii. 569.

The Chronicle of Lanercost, 254: "But the queen had a secret motive for desiring to cross over to France; for Hugh Despenser the Younger (age 38), the King's agent in all matters of business, was exerting himself at the Pope's court to procure divorce between the King of England and the queen, and in furtherance of this business there went to the court a certain man of religion, acting irreligiously, by name Thomas de Dunheved, with an appointed colleague, and a certain secular priest named Master Robert de Baldock. These men had even instigated the king to resume possession of the lands and rents which he had formerly bestowed upon the queen, and they allowed her only twenty shillings a day for herself and her whole court, and they took away from her her officers and body servants, so that the wife of the said Sir Hugh was appointed, as it were, guardian to the queen, and carried her seal; nor could the queen write to anybody without her knowledge; whereat my lady the queen was equally indignant and distressed, and therefore wished to visit her brother in France to seek for a remedy."

Chronicle of Geoffrey the Baker of Swynebroke. Once the matters for which the queen had been sent to France were completed, shortly after the feast of Saint Michael [29 September 1325], her husband wrote to her¹, ordering her to return her son to England without delay. The queen, however, replied that her brother, the King of France, was treating them with such excessive affection that he was holding them back against their will. As a result, she dismissed a large part of both households and spent the remainder of that year attending to certain affairs for which, it appeared, she had originally intended to set out. Bishop Walter of Exeter, although not ordered to return to England, saw himself completely excluded from the queen's inner circle of counsel. Recognizing that Roger de Mortimer and other fugitives—enemies of his lord the king—had taken over his place in the queen's favour, he quietly returned to England². England grew increasingly disturbed by the queen's extended stay abroad, and by her retention—against the king's will—of their son outside the realm. Some claimed they were being detained unwillingly; others suspected that the queen, seduced by the illicit embraces of Roger de Mortimer, refused to return, preferring the company of him and other English exiles she had found in France. Yet with various and conflicting explanations—some clearly false, others only partially true—the Bishops of Lincoln and Hereford, who were aware of the true affair and awaited its conclusion with the wrathful virago, concealed the secret of their conscience.

Completis negociis pro quibus in Franciam missa fuerat regina, statim post festum sancti Michaelis scripsit sibi eius maritus, precipiens quod filium suum in Angliam reduceret cum festinacione. Rescripsit ipsa mulier quod dominus rex Francie frater suus nimia caritate foveret illos et secum invitos detineret, unde, remissa magna parte utriusque familie, residium illius anni certa negocia pro quibus ex intencione proficiscebatur ipsa transegit. Walterus episcopus Exoniensis non in Angliam iussus redire, a questione tamen secreti concilii regine videns se totaliter sequestratum, set Rogerum de Mortimer et alios profugatos regis domini sui inimicos locum suum quoad regine familiaritatem usurpasse, clam repatriavit. Commovebatur Anglia de regine mora ad regis displicenciam extra regnum filium suum detinentis, quibusdam asserentibus quod inviti detinebantur, aliis conicientibus quod illicitis complexibus Rogeri de Mortuo mari delinita, cum ipso et aliis profugis Anglorum quos in Francia reperivit, noluit redire; set has et alias causas diversas quibusdam falsas, quibusdam vero semiplenas pretendentibus, episcopi Lincolniensis et Herefordensis, conscii negocii cuius finem expectavit irata virago, consciencie secretum dissimularunt.

Note 1. Edward wrote to the king of France complaining of the queen's delay, 1st December 1325. On the same day he wrote to her ordering her return. On the following day he wrote to his son to return, with or without his mother. Fœdera, ii. 615, 616.

Note 2. In his letter to the queen, 1st December 1325, Edward states that Walter Stapleton returned at his command: "And as it happened, at the time when our honourable father in God, Walter, Bishop of Exeter, was with you, it was certainly made known to us that certain of our enemies and exiles over there were lying in wait to do him harm to his person, had they found the opportunity. And so, to avoid such dangers, and because we had urgent business with him, we summoned him, firmly commanding him, upon his faith and allegiance owed to us, that he hasten to come to us, leaving all other matters aside, in the safest manner he could, to preserve himself. We wish, and hereby command you, that you hold this as his justification for why the said bishop came suddenly to us from those parts, and understand that he did so for no other reason than the ones stated above." Fœdera, ii. 615.

This account of his flight is given in the Vita Edward II, 285: "The Bishop of Exeter was one of those who had come with the king's son. But the French courtiers looked upon him more than the others, as if he bore some mark of guilt. Though he was conscious of no wrongdoing, nor forewarned by their expressions, he—leaving behind his attendants to feign his presence—secretly fled. At night, having changed his clothing and using a diplomatic pass, he made his way to the sea, and boarded a ship in the guise of a merchant or pilgrim, returning to England. In this way, if anything had been plotted against him, he prudently escaped it. Therefore, if his diplomatic mission proved perilous, let him beware of returning to France again. For there are four chief men of England—namely, the Bishop of Exeter, lately Treasurer; Robert de Baldock, now Chancellor; and Hugh Despenser, both father and son—who, if found within the kingdom of France, would surely not enjoy a pleasant stay. For it is said that, on the counsel of the Bishop of Exeter, the queen's possessions were seized into the king's hands, and she was thereby stripped of her French attendants."

Chronicle of Geoffrey the Baker of Swynebroke. In the year of our Lord 1326, in the eleventh year of the pontificate of Pope John XXII, and the twentieth and final year of the reign of King Edward of England, a civil war, customary to the English, was renewed by the army that had been assembled. Yet it could not last long, since the king and the earls, whom the treacherous armed force sought to capture, judged themselves too weak to resist and, effectively advising flight, attempted in vain to take refuge in fortifications suitable for defense. The king, realizing through his scouts that nearly the whole community of the realm had sided with his wife, terrified by false rumours, crossed into Wales¹ with the two aforementioned earls and Robert de Baldock, along with a few others of his private household, having left the Earl of Winchester behind to defend the town and castle of Bristol.

Anno Domini MCCCXXVJ, pontificatus domini Iohannis pape XXIJ. anno XJ regis vero Anglie Edwardi XX et ultimo, guerra intestina Anglicos consueta exercitare per exercitum descriptum renovatur, que proinde non poterat diu durare, quod rex et comites, quos expetivit manus armatorum prodiciosa, invalidos ad resistendum se putantes, municionibus aptis defensioni, quasi fugam consulentes, se commisisse frustra sunt conati. Rex nempe, percipiens per suos exploratores quod uxori sue tota pene regni communitas falsis territa rumouribus adhesit, cum duobus sepedictis comitibus et Roberto de Baldok, paucis quoque aliis de sua secreta familia, ad partes Wallicas se transmisit, dimisso comite Wintonie ad tuicionem ville et castri Bristollie.

Note 1. Edward abandoned London on the 2nd October 1326; he was at Gloucester on the 10th and 11th, at Westbury on the 12th, at Tintern on the 14th, at Chepstow on the 16th-21st, at Cardiff on the 27th, at Caerfilly on the 28th-30th. Parliamentary Writs, ii. (Chron. abstr.) 451 sq.; Fœdera, ii. 645, 646.

Chronicle of Geoffrey the Baker of Swynebroke. [16th November 1326] The king¹, by the authority of the Bishop of Hereford, was entrusted to the custody of the Earl of Leicester, and brought to Kenilworth Castle², where he remained throughout the winter, in fairly honourable company and treated as a captive king ought to be.

Captis igitur rege, Hugone predicto comite Gloucestrie, magistro Roberto de Baldok, et Simone de Redynge, aliis sine cura fuge dimissis, custodie comitis Leicestrie rex autoritate concilii episcopi Herefordensis commendatus, ad castrum de Kenelworthe est adductus, ubi per totam hyemem in satis honesta mansit comitiva, nec aliter quam oportuit regem captivum custoditus.

Note 1. Edward was taken on the 16th November [1326]. Annales Paulini, 319: "And on the same day, Lord King Edward, while fleeing into Wales, was captured by the Welsh and taken to the castle of Llantrisant near Neath in Wales. Lord Hugh Despenser the Younger (age 40) was captured nearby in a certain wood, along with Master Robert de Baldock, the king's chancellor; Lord Thomas Wyther; John de Beck, knight; John le Blunt; John le Smale; Richard Holdene; Simon de Reading; and many others. All of them were taken to Hereford."

Scriptores X, 2766: Orleton in his apology, answering the charge that his sermon at Oxford had caused the people to seize and imprison the king, declares that it is notorious that Edward, on the capture of the younger Despenser, gave himself up to the earl of Lancaster: "It is manifestly false and maliciously alleged; for it is public and well known that the said lord king, after the capture of the said Hugh Despenser, who had held the king in captivity, came of his own free will to the lord Earl of Lancaster, his cousin, who received him honourably and accompanied him to his castle of Kenilworth. There, in the company of the said earl, during my departure from England on my way to the Roman Curia on behalf of the present lord king and the affairs of his kingdom, the said lord king, his father, was known to have remained safe and unharmed."

Note 2. Murimuth, 49: "Thus, with the help of the Welsh, on whom the king and his followers had placed their trust, they captured the king, Lord Hugh Despenser the Younger, Robert de Baldock, and Simon de Reading, not without the intervention of money, and showed no concern for the other members of the king's household. They handed the king over to the custody of the Earl of Lancaster, his cousin, who led him through Monmouth, Ledbury, and other places to his own castle at Kenilworth, where the king remained throughout the winter. Lord Hugh Despenser the Younger, Robert de Baldock, and Simon de Reading were taken to the queen, who was then at Hereford."

Edward was at Hereford on the 20th November, when he gave up the great seal, at Ledbury for some days at the end of November and beginning of December, and at Kenilworth on the 5th December. Fœdera, ii. 646, 647; Par!. Writs, ii. 350.

Chronicle of Henry Knighton. Immediately, there was a discussion at Hereford concerning the death of Hugh Despenser, and how his entire lineage could be extinguished so that none of his descendants would ever attain honor, rank, or position in the kingdom of England, in perpetuity. Hugh himself, along with Master Robert Baldock and the Prior of Hereford, were brought to Hereford. As they approached the town, such a vast multitude of people came out from all directions that everyone was amazed at the sight. And all who could blow a horn, raise a shout, or throw insults or scorn did so against Hugh in every manner possible—so much so that never in past times had such a dreadful noise been heard directed at any noble man. First, they dressed him in a garment bearing his coat of arms turned inside out, and placed on his head a crown made of nettles. Robert Baldock was likewise dressed in a similar garment. On their clothing were written six verses from the Psalm Quid gloriaris in malitia? (Psalm 52:1 – "Why do you glory in malice?") in the most mocking manner they could devise. Robert Baldock was sentenced to perpetual imprisonment in Newgate, where he died the following year in great misery. The aforementioned Prior was sent to prison in Hereford for having acted wrongly against the king's peace. Lord Hugh Despenser was then brought before Sir William Trussell, the appointed justiciar, and arraigned at the bar in the following form ... "

Statimque tractatum est apud Herfordiam de morte Hugonis Spenser, et quomodo exstingui posset tota ejus posteritas, ne ad aliquem honorem, gradum vel statum quis eorum deveniret in regno Angliæ pro perpetuo. Et idem Hugo et magiater Bobertus Baldoc et Frior de Herfordia ducti sunt apud Herfordiam. Et cum prope villam appropinquarent occurrit tanta raultitudo populorum undique quod omnes mirabantur de visu, et omnes qui poterant comu sufBare vel vocem hutesii emittere seu aliquam despectionem inferre, pro suo modulo cum convitiis et contumeliis intulerunt Hugoni, adeo quod retroactis temporibus tam horridus sonus de quocumque sublimi homine non est auditus. Et primo vestierunt eum uno vestimento cum armis suis reversatis missa corona de urticis in capite ejus. Simili modo vestierunt Bobertum Ealdoc simili vestimento. Et super vestimentis eorum scripti sunt vj. versus de psalmo, Quid gloriaris in. malitia? derisoriori modo quo possent; dictus Robertus adjudicatus est perpetuo carceri apud Newgate; ibique anno sequenti moriebatur sub magna miseria. Antedictus Prior missus est in carcerem apud Herfordiam eo quod male se gesserat contra pacem regis. Dominus Hugo Spenser ductus coram domino Willelmo Trussell justiciario areniatus est coram eo ad barrum in forma quæ sequitur.

Chronicle of Geoffrey the Baker of Swynebroke. Master Robert de Baldock¹, after enduring many humiliations, was handed over to the bishop of Hereford's prison, where he lived a most miserable life until the next feast of the Purification. At that time, the Bishop of Hereford, architect of all this evil, had him brought to London. Once there, the Londoners, with the bishop's tacit approval, seized him and threw him into Newgate prison [Map], seeking cause to accuse him of treason, that they might have him drawn, hanged, and numbered among the dead. But after many investigations, they found no stain of treason or other felony in him. Nevertheless, they treated him so inhumanely that he died from torment not long after Easter [28th May 1327] of the same year².

Set magister Robertus de Baldok, post multas contumelias, carceri episcopi Herefordensis fuit mancipatus, ubi nimis dolorosam egit vitam usque ad proximum sequens festum Purificacionis. Tunc siquidem episcopus Herefordensis, omnis huius mali architector, fecit ipsum ad se Londonias adduci; quo deductum Londonienses, non sine dissimulante consensu episcopi, rapuerunt et apud Neugate incarceraverunt, querentes occasionem contra ipsum, tamquam proditorem, ut possent distractum suspensumque mortuis adnumerare; set tandem, post multas inquisiciones in ipso non invenientes maculam prodicionis nec alius felonie, ita inhumaniter ipsum tractaverunt, quod eodem anno cito post Pasca obiit in tormentis.

Note 1. Annales Paulini, 334: "In the same year, on the 28th May 1326, Master Robert de Baldock, canon of St Paul's Church, Archdeacon of Middlesex, and formerly Chancellor to Lord King Edward, died in the prison of Newgate, in great hardship and chains, in extreme filth and misery. From the prison, on the vigil of Pentecost, that is on the 30th May 1326, he was brought to St Paul's Church in London. The canons and other ministers of the said church, showing all honour and solemnity appropriate to a fellow canon, buried him in the canons' cemetery."

Scriptores X., 2763. Among the charges which were brought against Orleton in 1334, he states the first to be: "That I ordered and sacrilegiously dared to lay rash and violent hands upon Master Robert de Baldock, and caused him to be seized against his will in the month of November, in the year of our Lord 1326, in the city of Hereford." His answer is: "I state and affirm that Lord Robert de Baldock, in the month of November, as a public enemy of the king and the realm, and guilty of the crime of lèse-majesté, was captured together with the late Lord Hugh Despenser by the peers of the realm, and was brought to Hereford. There, before a secular judge, together with the said Hugh, he was convicted by the peers of the realm according to law. I, then Bishop of Hereford, claimed him as an ecclesiastical person under the liberties of the Church, and according to custom he was handed over to me and committed to ecclesiastical custody, where he remained until the provincial council held in London in the month of January. At that council—convened by order of the lord king and his mother, the queen, and especially at the urging and initiative of the venerable father Lord J[ohn], then Bishop of Winchester and Treasurer of England, now elected Archbishop of Canterbury, along with many of the leading nobles of the land—I caused the aforesaid Robert to be brought up and, in good faith and without deceit, received him into my episcopal residence and kept him under diligent guard, until he might be conveniently presented before the said council, to receive, by its sentence and judgment, what he had deserved for his misdeeds—so public and notorious that they could not be concealed by any evasion. And although it was not credible that, with the king, prelates, earls, and other great men of the realm then gathered and present in London for the administration of justice in Parliament—within whose sacred company no one could or should rightly fear harm—anyone should suffer violence or coercion, yet through the power of certain armed men, and against the will of the guards I had assigned him, the said Robert was seized by the citizens of London and kept imprisoned until death, lest, as they claimed, being regarded as a public enemy of the realm, he might be freed through the intervention of certain of his friends and household then present in the city of London, by plea, or bribery, or gifts and promises of reward." (The concluding sentence is either corrupt or incorrectly printed. Suggested emendations are placed within brackets).

The Annales Paulini, 320, give details of the interference of the Londoners: "After a short time, he (the bishop) brought him to London and imprisoned him in his own house in the parish of St Mary Mounthaw. But the bailiffs of London and others of the city, observing that the said bishop did not have, nor could lawfully have, a prison of his own within the walls of the city of London, forcibly took Master Robert from him and led him to the prison of Newgate, where he was incarcerated in the year of our Lord 1326."

Chronicle of Geoffrey the Baker of Swynebroke. These matters concluded, the queen turned her attention to the Marches and remained at Hereford for a month. There, she divided her army and sent part of it with Henry, Earl of Leicester, and Master Rhys ap Howell¹, a Welsh cleric, to capture the king and those with him. The aforementioned earl was the brother and heir of the oft-mentioned Earl Thomas of Lancaster, and the said Rhys, who was sent with him, had once been imprisoned by royal justice in the Tower of London, but had been restored to liberty through the queen's power. Both the said earl and Rhys held estates and wide dominions near the place where the king was hiding; moreover, Rhys was very well known throughout the entire region. At last, the said earl and the cleric—through the corruption of the Welsh with a large sum of money—found the king in the monastery of Neath, along with Hugh Despenser the Younger, who had been left behind, seeking safety in flight. They were discovered by Welsh spies. Thus the king was captured, along with the said Hugh, the Earl of Gloucester, Master Robert de Baldock, and Simon de Reading; the others were left behind without pursuit.

Hiis ita confectis, ad partes marchie regina conversa, apud Herefordiam per mensem commorata, exercitum dividit, et cum eius una parte misit Henricum comitem Laicestrie et magistrum Resum ap Howel clericum, nacione Wallicum, comprehendere regem et sibi aderentes. Predictus comes erat germanus sepenominati et heres comitis Thome Lancastrie; et iste Resus, secum missus, quondam iusticia regali in turri Londoniarum incarceratus erat, set per regine potenciam sue libertati restitutus. Tam comes predictus quam iste Resus habuerunt possessiones et ampla dominia iuxta locum in quo rex latitabat; fuitque preterea Reso tota patria valde nota. Predicti finaliter comes et clericus, non sine magne pecunie interventu Wallicis corruptis, regem in monasterio de Neth, Hugonem Dispenser filium, desertum pro fuge presidio capescentem, per exploratores Wallicos invenerunt.

Note 1. Rhys ap Howell was implicated in the rebellion of 1322, but surrendered to the king. He was sent prisoner to Dover.

Murimuth, 35: "The queen, with her army, moved toward Hereford, where she remained for nearly a month with her paid troops and others, with only a few exceptions. From that place, she sent into Wales the Earl of Lancaster, Lord William la Zouche, and Master Rhys ap Howell, who had previously been freed from the prison of London, because they were well known in those parts, along with a few of the Marchers. These three held lands and lordships in Wales near the place where the king, as mentioned above, was in hiding."

Life of Edward II by a Monk of Malmesbury. The Bishop of Exeter was one of those who had come with the king's son. But the French courtiers looked upon him more than the others, as if he bore some mark of guilt. Though he was conscious of no wrongdoing, nor forewarned by their expressions, he—leaving behind his attendants to feign his presence—secretly fled. At night, having changed his clothing and using a diplomatic pass, he made his way to the sea, and boarded a ship in the guise of a merchant or pilgrim, returning to England. In this way, if anything had been plotted against him, he prudently escaped it. Therefore, if his diplomatic mission proved perilous, let him beware of returning to France again. For there are four chief men of England—namely, the Bishop of Exeter, lately Treasurer; Robert de Baldock, now Chancellor; and Hugh Despenser, both father and son—who, if found within the kingdom of France, would surely not enjoy a pleasant stay. For it is said that, on the counsel of the Bishop of Exeter, the queen's possessions were seized into the king's hands, and she was thereby stripped of her French attendants.

Exoniensis unus erat ex illis qui venerant cum filio. Curiales vero Francorum ipsum quasi alicujus scecleris notatum, respiciebant præ ceteris. Ipse vero nichil sibi conscius vel ad vultus eorum caute præmunitus, familiares suos ibidem relinquens qui præsentiam suam fingerent, clam fugam iniit, clam de noctc mutata veste usus duplomate ad mare devenit, et quasi mercator vel peregrinus navem conscendens in Angliam rediit; et ita si quid in eum machinatumn exstitit, prudenter evasit. Igitur si periculosa fuit ei legatio sua, videat ne videatur iterum in Francia. Quatuor sunt quippe personæ de majoribus Angliæ, Exoniensis episcopus nuper thesaurarius, Robertus de Baldoke nunc cancellarius, Hugo Despenser pater et filius, qui si reperirentur infra regnum Franciæ non carerent utique mala mansione. Asseritur enim quod de consilio Exoniensis prmedia reginm capta erant in manu domini regis, et ipsa destituta Francis familiaribus suis.

Chronicle of Geoffrey the Baker of Swynebroke. The king¹ then proceeded to Chepstow with the Earl of Gloucester and Master Robert de Baldock, and with very few others, boarded a ship intending to sail to the island of Lundy. Lundy is an island in the Severn estuary, about two miles long in every direction, rich in pasture and oats. It produces rabbits in abundance and has many doves, even ostriches—whom Alexander Neckam calls 'Ganymede's birds'—nesting there. It also supplies its inhabitants with fresh water from natural springs, despite being entirely surrounded by the saltiest of seas. The island has only a single point of access, where barely two men can walk side by side, and is otherwise protected by towering and fearsome cliffs, making assault nearly impossible. This island, though naturally well-supplied, had also been stocked with an abundance of wine, oil, honey, wheat, barley, fish, salted meat, and coal. Yet a contrary wind³ completely prevented the king from reaching it. Barely escaping the fury of the sea, he landed in Glamorgan and took refuge in the abbey and castle of Neath⁴, trusting far too much in the false promises of the Welsh, who claimed they were ready to share life and death with him.

Rex vero, deinde ad Chepstowe progressus cum comite Gloucestrie et magistro Roberto de Baldok aliis quoque valde paucis, se commisit navigio, intendens ad insulam de Londay proficisci. Lunday est insula in flumine Sabrina, duorum miliarium undequaque longa, habundans pascuis et avenis, cuniculos producit copiose, columbis, eciam strucionibus, quos vocat Alexander Necham Ganimedis aves², nidos habet pregnantes, aquas insuper recentes de fontibus scaturientes incolis ministrat, ipsa licet ab omni parte aquis amarissimis fuerit circumcincta. Unum dumtaxat aditum habet iste locus, quo vix duo viri poterunt coniunctim pedites incedere; ex omni alia parte rupis horrende alta proeminencia proibens aggressum. Hanc insulam victualibus, ut dictum est, naturaliter habundantem, tamen ex habundanti vino, oleo, melle, frumento, braseo, piscibus, salsis carnibus, et terestri carbone instuffatam, regem volentem adnavigare ventus contrarius proibuit omnino; unde, sevas tempestates maris vix declinans, applicuit in Clammorgan, et se transtulit ad abbathiam et castrum de Neth, ubi Wallencium, qui se promittebant secum velle vitam et mortem communicare, falsa promissione nimium confisus latitavit⁵.

Note 1. Stow, Annales, 346, translates thus: "The king, Hugh Spencer the younger, and Robert Baldocke determined to flee into the Ile of Londay, which is in the mouth of the river Severne, two miles in length everie waie, abounding with pasture grounds and oates, very pleasant; it bringeth forth conies verie plentifull; it hath pigeons and other fowles, which Alexander Necham calleth Ganimedes birdes, having greate nestes. Also it ministreth to the inhabitantes fresh springing waters flowing out of fountaines, although it be on everie side environed with the salt sea: it hath onelie one entrance into it in the which two men together can scarce goe in a front; on all other partes there is an high hanging over of a great rocke, which letteth the passage to this island, as we have saide: it aboundeth altogether with victualles, and is very full of wines, oile, hony, corne, bragget, salt-fish, flesh, and sea or earth coales. The king being desirous to saile thither, a contrarie winde did altogether withstand him; whereupon hee, scarce avoiding the cruell tempests of the seas, arrived at Glamorgan, and went to the abbey of Neth, where, trusting too much to the promises of the Welshmen, he did privilie lurke."

Note 2. The birds of Palamedes are thus described by Neckam, De Naturis Rerum (ed. Wright, Rolls Series), 1863, cap. xlvi: "Cranes in flight seem to trace a letter in the air, and from this, it is said, the name of the grammatical term congruum (agreement) arises. Thus Martial writes:

'You'll ruin the verse, and the whole letter won't fly,

If you lose but one of Palamedes' birds.'

He calls the crane a 'bird of Palamedes' because Palamedes is said to have invented letters in the Greek language and greatly advanced grammar in many ways. Therefore, since cranes appear to form an orderly figure in flight, they are called the birds of Palamedes."

Note 3. Le Bel, whom Froissart copies, creates a miracle out of this adverse wind. According to him the king and the younger Despenser take boat from Bristol to seek safety, Les Vrayes Chroniques de Messire Jehan le Bel, i. 23: "But God did not will to allow it, for their sin burdened them. And a great marvel and miracle occurred: they remained for a full nine days in that little boat, rowing forward as much as they could, but they could not get far, for every day the wind—by the will of God, being contrary—blew them back, each time within a league or so of the castle. So they were always within sight, and easily recognized by those in the queen's host."

Note 4. Edward was at Neath as early as the 5th and as late as the 10th November. Parliamentary Writs, ii. 763; Fœdera, ii. 647.

Note 5. Compare the words of advice put by Froissart, Ms. de Rome, i. 12, into the mouths of Edward's friends: "Sire, send messengers to all places and issue a command that all people are to come without delay, under penalty of losing both life and property and especially send word to Wales: the Welsh will not fail you."